


Dream A Little Dream

by gandalfthesassy



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Technology, Aliens, Canon Disabled Character, Cute, Dream Confession, Dreaming, Dreams, Embrace, Fluff, Gender-neutral Reader, Kissing, Love, Love Confessions, Multi, aepho's gender is 'why are you talking to me im busy', any gender reader, canon nb/trans character, corporate dream shit, dream - Freeform, embracing, idk - Freeform, kiss, space is gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 13:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16409219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gandalfthesassy/pseuds/gandalfthesassy
Summary: You and the Doctor get to try out this cool alien device that generates a person's best dream possible, based on the things that person loves the most (a place, an event, etc.). But the Doctor is a little taken aback when she sees your dream...Rated G because there's no swearing (miraculously) and nothing I'd be embarrassed to show a kid under 13. (I mean they may not understand all the words, but that's on them.) Gender-neutral reader, (y/n) is what you'd like to be called.





	Dream A Little Dream

“Welcome, friends, to the Crexil Buhz Auditorium!” chirped a rose gold robot as it led your tour group towards a large asymmetrical building. As you all got closer, and you snapped a pic with your phone, you saw that parts of the building were actually phasing in and out of existence, blinking like mirages. You nudged The Doctor and pointed.

“Right, I meant to point that out on our way in,” she whispered as the guide rattled off fun facts and ushered everyone inside. “Part of the Buhz and Bekriss company motto is that their researchers get full freedom to play with reality. Their favorite thing to do is create sentient holograms, some of which include the very building in which those researchers experiment. At least that’s the thing that distracts the tourists. Keeps them oohing and aahing.”

“Are they up to something?” you clarified, catching a certain skepticism in her explanation.

“Oh no, not anymore.”

“Wait, what?”

She shrugged as the tour guide noticed you two trailing behind and stopped the others. “They were before I got involved. Now their experiments are harmless. Well, mostly harmless. You never can tell with megacorporations. Very good at hiding the truth.” You hummed in agreement.

“Er, ma’am and plus-one?” the robot spoke with slight irritation, looking at you both. The other tourists turned to you at various speeds. “We’re on our way to the Buhz showroom. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” you replied at a similar volume, but more pleasantly. “Just wondering when our VIP schedule differs from the main tour.” You held up your wrist, which glowed as if you had on a glow-stick bracelet. It _was_ a kind of bracelet, but it was so thin, as in air-thin, that it was practically non-existent. You lost the explanation for how exactly this worked right around “molecular stasis.” Since yours glowed blue rather than green, you had a little more access to the facilities. You were a bit above VIP (the Doctor had friends here) but your concern remained.

The guide robot whirred a little at this, understanding your request. The Doctor gave you a nudge and a thumbs up as a humanoid with bright pink skin approached. They reminded you of a faun from Narnia but their horns were pronounced—rather, their _horn_ , for they had one like that of a ram’s on the right side. They were dressed as if interviewing for a job and looked a little more put-together than your guide. Although their body looked a bit like yours, they had only one arm on their left side; the right side had a cut-out hole exposing the shirt underneath, with no arm. On their face, they sported a pair of thick eyeglasses. You wondered if the glasses were just for show, since you couldn’t see the lenses at all.

“Doctor, (y/n), if you’ll follow me,” the alien smiled politely. As if not noticing, the group moved on towards a darker part of the building. You watched them walk away, but it didn’t last, as the Doctor gently took your elbow and led you away.

“Are you Buhz’s secretary?” posed the Doctor as she followed this person. She let your arm go but you almost grabbed her hand, just to touch her again.

“Yes,” they confirmed, “my name is Aepho. Buhz sent me to retrieve you. They’d like to demonstrate a piece of dream technology that’s almost ready to be put on the market.”

“Uh, sorry if this is inappropriate, but...” you began as the three of you reached an open lift, comprised of a metal circle floor and a circle bar just reaching the Doctor’s waist, held up by ten evenly spaced glass tubes. “Which pronouns do you use?”

“Mine are unpronounceable in most of your Earth languages,” Aepho replied nonchalantly, “but I’m comfortable with the singular _they_.”

“I see,” you acknowledged. Aepho secured the lift beside you. Seconds later, it rushed upwards. You cried out and threw your arms around the Doctor in fear, forgetting about the circle bar that could’ve easily supported you. The lift flew past several floors of researchers in glass-encased laboratories and neither the Doctor nor Aepho noticed your strange position.

However, once the lift reached its stop, your attempt to let go unnoticed was, in fact, noticed.

Aepho asked with a chuckle, “Is this your companion’s first time on an open lift, Doctor?”

You blushed and rubbed the back of your neck. In your position, you hadn’t noticed how you’d basically flattened her chest with your face. But you did notice now.

“Yeah, they’re still getting used to it,” the Doctor assured them. She patted your shoulder and you snapped out of it. “Most Earthlings don’t get to do all this.”

“Oh no, of course not,” Aepho agreed. Suddenly a strange chime sounded from their blazer pocket, and they pulled out a small electronic tablet. After hitting a few buttons on the tablet’s screen with their thumb, they gave you an apologetic yet inspired look and put it away. “I’m afraid Buhz will not be joining us. They’re in a shareholders meeting that has gone over schedule, and they are unable to leave. But in the meantime, they’ve asked me to lead you into the dream room. They will join us when they are finally free.”

“The dream room?” you echoed. “That sounds either inspired or completely terrifying.”

“Oh don’t worry, it’s just for _good_ dreams,” Aepho explained. “Walk with me and I’ll explain.” You obliged, as did the Doctor, who (unbeknownst to you) stole glances at you as they went through what this “dream room” did.

Basically, Aepho told you, it would compile the best dream ever from a person’s memory/mind based on whatever environment or event from their past made them feel the happiest and most safe. For example, they revealed that Buhz themself had tested it a few weeks ago. Their dream was lounging on the beaches of Eptigone V while being attended by servers of multiple genders. _So space is gay after all,_  you thought to yourself.

You asked them what would happen in the event that a person didn’t have any positive memories, and they assured you that was highly unlikely--seeing as it was aimed at beings with financial security (for the time being), and those over a certain age, there was bound to be something in their mind that was positive. “Even the most cynical being has happy thoughts,” Aepho smiled. “The program that creates the dream is _very_ thorough.”

You reached a sleek, black-glass door with “Dream Room” inscribed on a platinum plaque. Aepho swiped their wrist over a panel by the door and it slid open just long enough for the three of you to enter.

“Alright, here we are! Any other questions?”

Just as the door slid closed, the Doctor raised her hand. “Yeah, just one. Do you use these dreams for, oh, I don’t know, selling certain things to certain people, based on these positive associations?”

“Of course not, ma’am,” Aepho insisted, “that’s not what it’s meant for! It’s for personal, private use. In an age when everyone shares everything, it’s nice sometimes to keep some things for yourself. Besides, some people’s best dreams are very specific, and even the smartest marketing algorithm or AI has no hope of fulfilling that. I imagine some would be a little upset, since this digs deep, and to have such private dreams spat back at you in the form of ads would be a little unfair.”

“Anyway,” you tilted your head to the side slightly, impatiently.

“Anyway, would you like to view each other’s best dreams when they happen, or do you just want us to create the dream, record it, and save it for you to watch on your own?”

“I’m fine with (y/n) seeing my best dream,” the Doctor responded. She looked at you. “You don’t have to let me see yours, though, if you’re uncomfortable.”

“I mean, it can’t be any worse than that truth-telling invention from yesterday,” you shrugged. “It was like Wonder Woman’s lasso, but it actually hurt.” You rubbed your free wrist from where another Buhz and Bekriss invention had gotten mad that you didn’t, in fact, want to tell everyone in the room how weird they looked to you. (The invention’s station had vanished mysteriously for today.)

“Sorry about that,” Aepho visibly sweated, laughing a little in sympathy. “This one is completely private, we only keep your dream for a few minutes so you can view it on your own, but seeing as you’re both watching each other’s, we’ll keep both for a little longer. No rush, you see.”

“Yes, we see,” the Doctor agreed. “So! Let’s get started. (y/n), should I go first, or would you like to?”

“You first,” you decided immediately. “If anything bad happens, and it accidentally kills you, you can regenerate. I’m just a one-life human.”

“Good thinking.”

Aepho laughed again, even more nervously. “This one doesn’t have the potential for death, I can assure you.”

“I know, I’m just teasing,” you snorted. “Come on, I wanna see the Doctor’s deepest darkest secret!”

Aepho tapped a call button on the wall, and from a swinging panel in the wall emerged a few lab assistants in smart, clean jumpsuits. A few more lights turned on, one above two separate doors. The door on your right read ‘sleep room,’ and the other read ‘dream room.’ “I will activate the program from out here. In the meantime, for your protection, please wear this shade.” They held out a black band, like a VR headset but much thinner and with no wires. “I recommend you put it on before you go in for maximum safety. I’ll lead you in.”

“Don’t you need them too?” you wondered.

They smiled and tapped their glasses. “These will darken when I enter the dream room.”

“Oh, transition lenses! Nice.”

“They are, indeed, nice.” You smiled at Aepho. “The program has technically begun now, but it will take some time to complete once we are in the dream room.”

Through the partially-opaque window of the sleep room, you spotted the Doctor laying down face-up on a lab bench. (How comfortable, you almost snarked out loud.) The others finished waving a few wands and scanners over her, and the lab bench transformed into a bed, with a pillow and blanket and alien headboard design. You watched the Doctor’s vitals relax and regulate themselves as she fell asleep. You put on your shade as you waited for the program to work its magic. Aepho tapped your shoulder, and they led you into the dream room.

Your shade blocked out most of the light, but you could on occasion see flashes of light near the bottom. After about thirty seconds, a different strange chime came from Aepho’s tablet, muffled by their pocket.

“Alright, the Doctor’s best dream is ready,” they spoke to you clearly. “Take off your shade now.”

When you did, what you saw floored you.

Beneath your feet, a field of knee-high red grass appeared in a sweep of yellow pixels, and another sweep revealed a turquoise ocean in the distance. Above you, fluffy clouds crawled lazily over a red sky, though a bit less scarlet than its surface. In the distance, a citadel of glass spheres, all open on the inside, reflected the planet’s warm sun.

It was then you finally saw the Doctor, sitting in her lab bed, only ten feet away. She beamed at the sky when she recognized where she was. She leapt up and ran around for a minute, deftly avoiding you or Aepho as she did so. You reached out for her but she took no notice.

“This is merely a recording of the dream the Doctor is having, about twenty seconds after she dreams it,” they responded to your look of confusion and hurt. “Unless she specifically has you in her dream, she can’t interact with you.”

“What if she does?”

“Then the dream becomes lucid, and it becomes a little harder to control…then we have to sync it up more closely. It takes more energy to sync than to play back. We may charge more for that.”

The Doctor called out someone’s name from far away. You couldn’t tell what she'd said, and just as someone new peeked over the top of the hill, the yellow pixels swept the dream away. The blank, cold room suffocated you—you hadn’t noticed  _how_ warm the holodream was until it had vanished. And the tickle of the grass against your leg, you already missed it.

“That was Gallifrey,” you murmured. “Her home.”

“I’ve never been there myself,” Aepho came close to you, “but now you understand what your lover wants most in the universe. You can put that to use.”

You stammered, flustered and completely off-guard. “We’re not lovers!! She’s out of my league!”

“Ah, my mistake,” they apologized quickly. “I misinterpreted your glances at each other. I take it you have a deep friendship instead?”

“Uh, yes, we do. Can we just…do my best dream?” you recovered enough and headed for the door.

“(y/n), the door for switching is over here.”

You turned heel and headed to the correct door, still embarrassed. You didn’t say much to the Doctor, just mentioning how impressive the tech was and switching places. Whether she noticed your expression or not, she didn’t say.

You just hoped your own best dream would be appropriate.

~~~

As you went under, Aepho took the Doctor through the same process. She folded her hands together as she waited.

“This is exciting, isn’t it?” she asked Aepho brightly. “Have you had a go yet?”

“Not yet, ma’am,” they admitted. “It’s been reserved for special guests.”

“Oh you should, it’s ace. Nicest dream I’ve had in a while. Now, is (y/n)’s best dream ready? I can’t wait to see it. I imagine it must have something to do with home, somewhere on Earth...they’re from Earth, you know, did I mention that? I wonder if I’ve seen it before…”

“The dream is ready now, Doctor.”

Before Aepho could advise her to do so, she removed her blind. The simulation didn’t take long to load.

And it didn’t take long for her to recognize the person standing before her.

“Oh, that’s _me_!” she gasped. “And I’m happy...oh, (y/n), you sweetheart. I don’t look half-bad either, do I?”

“This is unusual,” Aepho remarked aloud. “Usually, the dream has to do with a place or a favorite memory. The program searches through every memory bank to see what the person has the strongest positive association with, and admittedly, it likes environments best. Probably because it utilizes the space. It’s not _impossible_ for it to be another being, but it’s highly unusual. You must be very special to them.”

Her smile went wider than it had ever gone. “I must be, mustn’t I.”

“Let me see if there is also a particular place that (y/n) prefers,” Aepho suggested, tapping a few buttons on their pad. “Perhaps the combination of you in that place will complete the equation.”

As the Doctor marveled at being featured, the environment quickly faded with pixels into the TARDIS interior. Then your old home. Then another planet. And another. And another. Every five seconds the environment changed. And yet, the holographic Doctor remained with a smile on her face, as solid and unchangeable as her own dream of Gallifrey’s fields.

The holo-Doctor spoke towards the real Doctor, but spoke _through_ her, as if there was someone behind the real one. “You’re so ordinary, and I love that,” her voice echoed slightly, like a ghost in an empty room.

“There’s so many things I haven’t said to you…”

The real Doctor turned behind her to see you sitting on the lab bed, though you weren’t nearly as happy or cheerful as holo-Doctor. She stepped out of the way so “you” could have a moment with “her.”

“I don’t know if I can even _say_ them, even in my head,” you shook your head, rubbing the back of your neck. “Just _looking_ at you makes me nervous.”

“In a good way?” holo-Doctor wondered.

You tilted your head down, nodding in embarrassment.

“Aw, you don’t have to be nervous!” she walked over to you, sitting on the bed beside you.

“But that’s the problem!” you looked at her again. You grabbed holo-Doctor’s hand for support. “We’re so close, and I love you so dearly, and if I articulate how I feel, and you don’t feel the same way, I’ll ruin the whole thing. You’ve...I don’t know, Doctor, you’re so dear to me. If I lost you, I’d never recover.” You looked away from her, accidentally looking at where the real Doctor stood. “I don’t know if I’m making any sense.”

“You make perfect sense to me,” the real Doctor said to herself, her eyes growing misty. “(y/n)...”

Suddenly, the holograms stopped dead, as if paused in time. Aepho placed a hand on her shoulder. “Do you want to speak to them in this state? We can help them lucid-dream so that they can maintain this safety net while you two interact.”

She shook her head. “No, no, I don’t want to push them. They know how they feel inside, I can’t force that out into the open. Besides, it wouldn’t be very consensual to just start talking. I know I was fully asleep when I went in, I wouldn’t have liked it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m very sure.”

“There’s only about twenty seconds left of the dream,” Aepho reported. “Would you care to see the rest of it, or would you like to end it early?”

The Doctor thought carefully. “I’d like to see the rest,” she requested.

The holograms resumed. Holo-Doctor smiled and pressed a kiss to your cheek. “You make perfect sense to me, (y/n),” she told you. You gazed at her with such love moments before embracing her in a tight hug. Holo-Doctor hugged back, holding the embrace for a long moment.

“Alright, now what say we ditch this planet for somewhere cooler?” she pulled back enough to ask, mere inches from your face.

“Sounds perfect,” you beamed, gave holo-Doctor a small kiss on the lips, and leapt up. “Come on! I’ll beat you to the TARDIS!” As you brought up that wonderful ship, she appeared in the hologram as well, her doors wide open for both of you. Holo-Doctor chased “you” to the ship and you both went inside. As the TARDIS’s engines groaned, the hologram vanished as it had appeared, with the pixels wiping away.

“So you two are galaxy travelers?” Aepho clarified, curiously.

“Yeah, we are,” the Doctor confirmed. “I knew they enjoyed traveling but I didn’t know...well, now I feel bad. I had no idea that’s all they wanted. I was trying to impress them with this and all the cool things that were happening...and all they wanted was just to travel with me.”

“They should be awake now,” they checked their tablet briefly before putting it away again. “Yes! They’re awake! And they’ll be done watching their dream in a few moments. I’m guessing you enjoyed yours?”

“Oh, yes,” she smiled. “(y/n) knows about Gallifrey but I don’t think they’ve ever been there before.”

“Well now, in a way, they have,” Aepho smiled. A positive chime sounded from their pocket. “Oh! Your companion just finished watching their dream. Shall we join them?”

“Yes.” Aepho made their way to the door connecting the two rooms. The Doctor only followed a few steps before stopping. “Oh, Aepho?”

They turned around, their darkened shades fading back to transparent. “Yes, Doctor?”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, thank the program. It’s going to change the way consumers think about themselves, and that's all anyone can hope for.”

The door slid open to the other room.

~~~

After meeting up again, you and the Doctor chatted about basically everything but your dreams. You bid Aepho and the lab assistants farewell as you headed back out into the auditorium. Groups on tour and individual business-type people flew by. The two of you didn’t talk to each other, but you followed the Doctor back to the TARDIS. The pit in your stomach grew. You’d seen your dream. You knew the Doctor had seen your dream. You could hear her in your head now, a hypothetical you were sure was about to come true. “(y/n), it’s been nice having you…” “It’s very dangerous out there, and today proves it…” “Maybe we should visit your old home again…”

The TARDIS doors had yet to open. You grabbed the Doctor’s shoulder and blurted: “I’m sorry, Doctor.”

She looked at you in surprise. “Sorry? For what?”

“I just, my _dream_ , it was really unfair. You were in the room, I probably made you really uncomfortable.”

“You can’t control what you dream about,” she reminded you gently. “There’s no shame in wanting to spend time with me.”

“Yeah, but oh my god, you kissed me! I mean, _dream-you_ kissed me, fake-you, whatever,” you freaked out. “I mean, like you said, I can’t control it, but I also can’t control you. I can’t make you feel like that about me, so it’s...it’s gonna be awkward from here on out. _That’s_ what I’m sorry for. I made things awkward.”

“You don’t have to _make_ me feel anything, (y/n),” she reached out for you, but you stepped back. She respected this and turned to the TARDIS doors again. “You know why?” She looked over her shoulder at you with a twinkle in her eye. “Because I already feel the same way.” As if on cue, the doors opened, and the Doctor swept inside.

You stood there in complete shock. Hold on, _what_ just happened? Did she just say she liked you? No, no, she _loved you_. This thousand-year-old alien just admitted that. After you embarrassed yourself in a mildly invasive dream machine that had tattled on you.

“Well?” she called out from right inside the door. “You dreamt about traveling to other planets and kissing me, didn’t you? You can’t exactly do that if you’re out there.”

And now she wanted to ditch one of the most high-tech places in the universe (that you’d seen, anyway) to _kiss you_.

A little voice in your head said, “Just pass out. Right now. It’s not gonna get any better than this.”

But you broke into a smile and dashed inside, throwing your arms around her and exclaiming: “I’m here now!!” The two of you connected lips and held onto each other tightly. The door closed behind you with a faint _thump_.

You stopped for a moment and pinched yourself, wincing at the pain.

“No, (y/n), you’re not dreaming,” the Doctor giggled, kissing your cheek. “Now, do you want to see the rest of the tour, or should we go somewhere else?”

“Take me anywhere you like,” you winked at her.

She laughed joyously and ran to the TARDIS console. You followed, helping her flip switches and press buttons. The ship groaned, and you grabbed the Doctor’s hand, unspeakably happy. You didn’t need to close your eyes to be in your best dream, after all. You just had to be near the Doctor.

**Author's Note:**

> this is basically the closest thing to the "you're asleep but you said you loved me but now you're awake how do i explain that i just heard you confess your love in your sleEP IM SORRY I LIKE YOU TOO BUT THAT'S WEIRD" trope i'm gonna get. but i love that trope a lot even though it's a little weird. at least in this the reader agrees to whatever happens in your dream idk


End file.
